Comments on Park Service, Wells helping downtown get a playground - Greater Greater Washington

Comment by EP Sato

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 12:12:43 EDT

I believe the Rec Center being referred to is Stead Rec Center, located on P street, between 16th and 17th.

However, that's more a "dupont circle" park than a downtown one. I'm in Logan's circle (13th and N). There is a park at the school on 1200 S Street, NW. However, because it's affiliated with a school there are restrictions on when it can be used. As a result, the playground is always empty. I took my daughter there one Saturday but left within 15 minutes as there were no kids there, but there were a few teens smoking weed. Didn't strike me like a good spot for my 3.5 year old.

In downtown proper, there's zilch. My daughter goes to Thomson and on days when I pick her up we have to walk about 8 blocks to get to the closest "neighborhood" playground. It would be nice if there was something closer by. How about Logan's Circle itself? Now that it's no longer the center of DC's red light district, the park seems to attract plenty of dog owners. Why not turn part of that circle into a fenced in playground?

Comment by FJay

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 16:00:48 EDT

Put it on the National Mall - where people might actually use it.

Comment by A. Loikow

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 14:47:54 EDT

SInce 1990, there has been a toddlers playground at Walt Whitman Park on E St. between 19th and 20th Streets NW that has been used by the day care centers near the White House. It was originally planned and developed by the Federal Home Loan Bank Board Small Savers Child Development Center in cooperation with the National Park Service.

Comment by Sandy Fritz

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 13:55:10 EDT

Please let us know if you would like any help planning your new playground. Sparks At Play www.sparksatplay.com is DC's local representative for Landscape Structures, Inc. play equipment www.playsli.com . We have supplied and/or installed many innovative playgrounds in an around DC such as Whittier, Janney, Murch, Powell, Bancroft, Hearst, Eaton, Shepherd, Takoma, Bruce Monroe, Burroughs, Langley, Wheatley, Brent, Watkins, Houston... And we have about 4 more in the works for DC right now.

Comment by Chrissy @

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 10:24:24 EDT

Way to go, thanks so much for what you're doing to get this going! A fantastic play space will be such a welcome addition to this neighborhood!

Comment by sb

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 21:44:40 EDT

x, the rec center referred to above is probably the kennedy rec center at 7th & p nw.

Comment by Caroline Armijo

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 16:47:59 EDT

We are definitely interested in innovative play spaces, not necessarily the stereotypical single play structure. It is amazing how a thoughtful space can engage a small child.

But mostly we need an outdoor space that is enclosed so that parents can relax while children do their work - play!

These comments have been very helpful in moving our efforts forward. We hope that anyone who is interested can come to our meeting tomorrow night.

Also, I meant to include the link for the Joint Use Agreements in my previous comments. But I was a little distracted by my toddler at the time.

Comment by HogWash

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 15:13:50 EDT

@Ward1, I like the sculpture contest idea as well. But I don't like the Smithsonian aspect of your post. They should not be in the business of providing playgrounds for kids.

Comment by x

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 15:03:07 EDT

Have you considered that the reason you don't see kids on a play ground is that there is no playground for them to play at?

Where is this rec center? Is it downtown? For my personal example I see plenty of kids in the playgrounds in my neighborhood and down the street at the park but maybe kids in Arlington are just different than kids in DC (they aren't)

Comment by Lance

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 14:59:21 EDT

Isn't that library building landmarked? Depending on how the landmarking was written up, there might be historic preservation consideration issues (probably design-related) over and above the historic preservation considerations owing to the playground being situated in the Mt. Vernon historic district. My suggestion would be to learn what these constraints are now so that additional costs don't come about from having to re-design the playground at various points of its approval process.

Comment by Danielle

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 14:58:15 EDT

I like the way you think, Ward 1 Guy. We may run into some difficulty getting anything on the actual Mall, but I think we should try it all. And, playable art is exactly the type of thing we are thinking of for some of the spaces that we have considered. I love the sculpture contest idea!

Comment by Rich

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 14:56:43 EDT

There's a playground at the rec center 3 blocks away. I rarely see anyone use it during the day this time of year. I suspect that the "need" for something downtown is more than a matter of convenience. besides, in the DC area, people move to "kid friendly" neighborhoods where you never see kids outside unless its some organized activity. I used to dog sit for a colleague in Rockville (the pretend Potomac part), which even had its own park with a playground. The only people I ever saw outside were other dog walkers. This seems pretty common anytime, I go into other neighborhoods of this strata or higher. Oddly, when I go to other cities, this doesn't seem to be the case.

Comment by Ward 1 Guy

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 14:51:28 EDT

We need something more creative than the traditional swings, slides, and monkey bars. Something kids can climb on but which has aesthetic appeal or educational value. In the former category is The Awakening sculpture that used to be on Hains Point. In the latter category is the "pizza playground" at the National Zoo.

I wonder if the Smithsonian Institution could ever be talked into using the grounds of any of its museums to create a space that kids can explore physically. We have two sculpture gardens on the Mall, but neither of them has a single sculpture that can be climbed on. Even the Museum of Natural History is made up of look-but-don't-touch exhibits.

We need a sculpture contest for American artists to design something that is beautiful, intriguing, educational, and requires one to interact with it by climbing on, running around, or jumping into it.

Comment by Shipsa01

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 13:54:53 EDT

Octavius, you mean the 'Washington, DC Open-Air, 24/7 Drug Fair' at NY and Kirby?

Comment by OctaviusIII

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 13:22:50 EDT

I hope this isn't a park that gets built then abandoned, like the Sursum Corda playground on New York & Kirby.

But I do like the idea, and it would be great to see it integrated with the Mount Vernon Square vision, though built a bit sooner.

Comment by Danielle

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 12:21:56 EDT

Sam - Thank you for your support. We should definitely be working with all the groups that you have mentioned.
It has been quite a challenge coming up with a complete list of groups and making all of the contacts. One of the purposes of this post is to try to get a greater reach to make sure we are discussing it with all the interested parties. I'm very glad that it has reached you, as it sounds like you will be a great help on this front.

We would also love to get Jack Evan's support - we have met with his staff, but so far he has not been willing to meet with us personally. If you could help us to get him on board, we would be greatly appreciative.

I hope to meet you tomorrow night so that we can discuss in more detail. Thanks again!

Comment by Shipsa01

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 11:50:51 EDT

Hi Caroline and Danielle - while sympathetic to your desire to get a playground and not wanting to derail the process, no one has contacted the Board of the Mt Vernon Square Neighborhood Association or the Mount Vernon Triangle Community Improvement District as of yet. Letters of support from our groups could help the process. I would also suggest notifying Jack Evans' staff as soon as possible since all the sites you've suggested are in his Ward. Also, you'll probably want to notify the various ANC's (esp. Rachelle Nigro) around the area and the Convention Center Neighborhood Association. Martin Moulton stepped down as President of that org, but I'm sure he can tell you who replaced him.

A fellow Board member and myself are going to try and attend the meeting tomorrow night. The other board member also represents the Condo Board of the City Vista (5th and K), which has looked into this issue and can bring some experience. We look forward to helping in any way possible.

- Sam Shipley
@shipsa01

Comment by Caroline Armijo

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 11:23:28 EDT

@Jazzy - Great to know about Stevens. KaBOOM! just posted information about Joint Use Agreements on Facebook this morning.

@engrish_major - We totally agree! We discussed Franklin Square during our walking tour. That will take multiple years to plan. We hope to write a post about it in an upcoming post.

Comment by dc denizen

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 11:22:50 EDT

I think playgrounds DT are a really good idea for both the locals with families and for tourists with young children. Many of the parks already mentioned are good candidates: Franklin Sq, Lafayette, McPherson, Mt. Vernon, and so on. They can be made to fit into a corner of the squares with some nice cast iron fences around them to blend in with the character of the squares. I've seen this in some of the squares in Manhattan.

Comment by engrish_major

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 11:13:54 EDT

Why not build one in Franklin Square? It is near enough to Thomson School so that it can be utilized by its students. The square is already larger than its demand at this time, so no childless adults will be missing the space that a playground will occupy.

Comment by Jazzy

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 10:54:50 EDT

Stevens has a playground, but whether or not they open(ed) it up to non-students is something I don't know. Of course, it's been (short sightedly) closed for a couple of years now, so I'm not sure if anyone uses it, I seriously doubt it. Which is a waste.

Comment by Falls Church

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 10:33:54 EDT

Why not create a playground/park on part of Penn Ave in front of the White House? I realize govt vehicles still need to drive in this area but there's enough room for a few secret service SUVs and a playground. Maybe Michelle Obama's office would be willing to spearhead this effort just like they stood up the Vermont Ave farmer's market?

Comment by Danielle

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 10:23:11 EDT

Unless something has changed greatly in the past few months, there is no playground on the roof of Thomson. The noise you are hearing is the children running around the dark, interior, low-ceilinged, garage-like space below the roof. The children refer to this space as the dungeon.

Comment by 13th and L

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 09:52:07 EDT

Thomson School has a giant playground on their roof enclosure. Every lunch the children scream almost directly into my office.